Nobel judge explains why Mo Yan won prize  

諾獎評委馬悅然現身上海談“為什么是莫言”

諾貝爾文學獎18位終身評委之一，諾獎評委中唯一精通漢語的漢學家馬悅然21日下午攜夫人陳文芳現身上海。“為什么是莫言”現場媒體當天紛紛把問題拋給這位88歲高齡的瑞典人。

Shanghai (CNS)—Permanent Nobel Literature Committee judge and renowned sinologist Goran Malmqvist spoke Sunday about the reasons behind Mo Yan's winning of the Nobel Literature Prize.

Malmqvist pointed out that a good translation contributed a lot to the success of Mo Yan's work, since a translated work of high quality can link literature from different countries.

Mo's works contain a sense of fantasy which can be found in Chinese mythology, such as "Journey to the West" and "Strange Tales of a Lonely Studio," he said.

Though influenced by William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mo's works use a Chinese narrative style and he is a "good storyteller," added Malmqvist.

A student of renowned Swedish sinologist Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren, Goran Malmqvist is the first person to translate Chinese classics such as "Heroes of the Marshes" and "Journey to the West" into Swedish.